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Flemings to agree 5bn sterling sale to Chase

LONDON: British investment bank Robert Fleming is poised to agree to a takeover by U.S. bank Chase Manhattan for around five billion pounds ($7.90 billion), a person familiar with the deal said on Sunday.

The deal, at a substantially higher price than that originally mooted, is likely to be announced on Tuesday, the person said.

The deal will leave NM Rothschild, Lazards and Close Brothers as Britain's last independent investment banks.

The price tag originally placed on Fleming was three billion pounds, banking sources have said. Fleming confirmed merger talks with Chase Manhattan last month.

Britain's Sunday Business newspaper said Chase Manhattan will pay 26-29 pounds per share for the bank. The new entity will be called Chase Fleming in Europe.

A spokesman for Fleming told Reuters he could not comment.-Reuters